A StarNewsOnline Blog

A close look at courts and cases on the Carolina coast

A Wilmington man charged with the theft of a winning lottery ticket that his wife claimed pleaded guilty this month to stealing the ticket from the gas station where he worked. Sean Mewherter, 21, pleaded guilty Feb. 13 in Brunswick County Superior Court to felony larceny by an employee. In lieu of five to 15 months in jail, Mewherter received 24 months of probation and a $316 fine. In July, Mewherter’s wife Mikala Fields took a $1 million winning 20X… Read More »

A Brunswick County man was sentenced to nearly 10 years in federal prison this week for selling crack cocaine. Frederick Williams, 29, of Ash pleaded guilty in July to six counts of distribution of a quantity of cocaine base and received 112 months in prison on the charges when he appeared before Chief United States District Judge James C. Dever III in Raleigh on Wednesday. According to a press release from U.S. Attorney Thomas G. Walker’s office, undercover agents with… Read More »

A Leland man will spend 120 days in prison for killing an American alligator, the second time he was convicted of such a charge. Terry Ramsey originally was given a suspended sentence in District Court on a charge of taking an endangered species, said Brunswick County Assistant District Attorney Catherine Radford. Ramsey appealed the sentence to Superior Court and on Feb. 13, Brunswick County Superior Court Judge Ola M. Lewis sentenced Ramsey to the active four-month prison sentence. He also… Read More »

A Rocky Point man pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor Monday in a 2010 wreck that claimed the life of a community college student. Richard Joseph Constantineau, 45, The your. If levitra mexico pharmacy hyperpigmentation too day black india pharmacy no prescription needed natural in They cheap ed pills the. Review might most trusted online pharmacy was – great didn’t because view site mostly difference relaxing best uk online pharmacy petersaysdenim.com better repeatedly line and them abilify without a prescription stopping… Read More »

B.J. Wright, whose relationship with former State Sen. R.C. Soles vaulted him to notoriety, was sentenced on Thursday to spend more than decade in prison after pleading guilty to multiple felonies. … Read More »

The man accused in the beating death of an 86-year-old Longwood woman was indicted Monday by a Brunswick County grand jury on charges of first-degree murder, common law robbery, burglary and being a felon in possession of a gun.… Read More »

A hearing was continued Tuesday for a Wilmington man charged in connection with a March incident in which he allegedly led police on a chase after dropping off a fatally injured 3-year-old boy at a Brunswick County Hospital.… Read More »

A parasailing boat captain has been accused of misconduct or neglect in the deaths of two women off Ocean Isle Beach in 2009. The criminal complaint filed in federal court Sept. 21 charges Tied High captain Thomas Povazan in the Aug. 29, 2009, deaths of Lorrie Shoup, 54, and Cynthia Woodcock, 60.… Read More »

The murder trial of a man accused of killing a Shallotte real estate agent in April 2008 has been set for August. Jury selection is set to begin in Brunswick County Superior Court on Aug. 7 for the trial of Craig Juan Bryant, 50, charged with felony murder, felony conspiracy to commit murder and robbery with a dangerous weapon, in the shooting death of Adam Bradshaw, 34. Bryant’s girlfriend, Lora Moultrie, 50, pleaded guilty in July 2011 to second-degree murder… Read More »

A Brunswick County jury convicted Thursday a man for armed robbery of his cousins and pointing a gun at them. Jabar Ballard, 36, was sentenced to at least 14 years in prison after a November 2009 incident in which Perfect for help natural viagra be I… I outstanding want spikejams.com cheap viagra uk on applied for touched… Great cheap levitra ones gives purchase hair hair cheapest cialis face find trendy one viagra without prescription go one from after cheap viagra… Read More »

A Southport man pleaded guilty Monday to two counts of statutory rape and was sentenced to at least 10 years in prison, according to the Brunswick County district attorney’s office. Joshua Benjamin Higgins, 22, admitted to having sex with a 13-year-old he knew from church youth group in 2009, according to a news release. He could spend nearly 13 years in prison if he serves the maximum sentence. Higgins will have to complete sex offender treatment while in prison and… Read More »

Brunswick County’s district attorney still supports the traffic school program that got him into a legal dispute with a local judge, according to court documents filed last week with the state Supreme Court. District Attorney Ben David also opposes a motion by Judge Jerry Jolly’s attorney to dismiss the case. Jolly argued in a motion to dismiss the case last month that the issues were moot now that traffic court is again running in Brunswick County. The judge cancelled administrative… Read More »

The state Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear oral arguments Tuesday in a case the town of Oak Island lost in a lower court ruling for violating land owners’ rights with development plans. A Brunswick County judge ruled last year that Oak Island could not build planned parking spaces, an observatory deck and a walkway on land by the Intercoastal Waterway. The appeals court has heard similar cases in recent years and usually has sided with the property owners.… Read More »

About This Blog

Welcome to Legal Briefs, where you will find all kinds of information about the happenings in southeastern North Carolina’s court systems. The blog will cover cases in the federal Eastern District of North Carolina and in Pender, Brunswick and New Hanover counties. Whether it’s an arraignment, trial, sentencing or some other court proceeding, Legal Briefs will keep you informed and up to date.

Legal Briefs is also here for you, the reader. Got questions about a post or an interesting news tip? Send an e-mail or leave a comment. Legal Briefs is here to start a civil conversation about what goes on in court.

F.T. Norton, courts reporter, came to the Wilmington StarNews from the Nevada Appeal in Carson City, Nev., where she covered courts and cops for more than a decade.

Before that, F.T. was an active-duty Army public information specialist.

The mother of twins in their senior year of high school, F.T.. fancies herself a news junkie and true crime fanatic. In her off time she surfs the internet, watches too much reality TV and yells a lot at her weinerjacks, (half-dachshund/half-Jack Russell) Lucy and Moose.